


Hunting

by Truthwritaslies



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-16 17:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truthwritaslies/pseuds/Truthwritaslies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They cut out his tongue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Teen Wolf belongs to MTV and I make no money off of this story.

_They cut out his tongue._

The thought keeps rolling around in Derek’s mind non-stop, like it’s the most important thing in the world. 

_They cut out his tongue._

And who knows? Maybe it is. 

Maybe this is the day the world falls apart because Stiles just isn’t the same without his babble, however much Derek might have wished for a little quiet out of the man over the years. 

_They cut out his tongue_

It should never have happened. 

It was just a minor dispute with a pack that had crossed into his territory on accident. It had been his own fault for not getting out to those boundary lines after the last rain but Derek had been busy. All it would have taken was the other pack to leave him some small token, a rabbit maybe, as an apology for their unannounced presence but apparently the Alpha was new and insecure because he’d instead tried to challenge Derek over the boundary line, tried to claim Derek’s territory was smaller than it was. 

_They cut out his tongue_

And perhaps it had worked before, perhaps they expanded their territory by making such claims and forcing the other pack to back down but Derek wasn’t willing to give up even an inch of space. 

They took Stiles the day after Derek had sent their negotiator crawling back with heavy claw marks along his ribs. 

No one, least of all Derek, had expected them to go after his mate. His human mate who could take care of himself if given the time to properly plan and get his things together but there hadn’t been time because they’d ambushed him as he made his way home from work. Derek could tell by the blood on the road and the smell of singed fur that Stiles hadn’t gone without a fight but he’d been underprepared and overwhelmed.

_They cut out his tongue._

Derek stands next to Stiles’ hospital bed, mentally replaying the three weeks Stiles had been missing. Remembering his relief when Stiles had been dumped on his front porch only for it to turn to horror at what had been done to Stiles. That had been before they reached the hospital and the doctors had delivered the final blow. 

Really, the only saving grace of the whole thing was that the other pack had refrained from sexual assault and that counted for very little in Derek’s book. 

_They cut out his tongue._

Derek looked at the Sheriff, who looked back at him before patting his gun holster. Derek and the Sheriff nodded their understanding. The Sheriff would keep Stiles safe while Derek was away.

Tonight there would be no wolves in Beacon Hills. 

They were going Hunting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story was originally going to be a one-shot but between the overwhelming response (seriously, I don't think all y other stories together have 60+ kudos, and those were over months rather than one day!) and the fact that I actually did have more ideas for this story I decided to write more. 
> 
> I'm not exactly sure where I am going to go with this plot but hopefully it will make sense and be just what you all wanted.
> 
> Also, in this story Stiles is thirty-ish (exact age still to be determined) and he and Derek have been together for almost eight years.

The school puts Stiles on extended leave, until it can be determined if he will still be able to teach his classes without being able to speak.

It's not like Mrs. Ellis, the deaf sign language teacher. She simply writes on the board when her students haven't advanced enough to hold full conversations yet, passing out little chalkboards for people to ask their questions on when the questions are too complex for their skill level, though she enforces a strict no verbalization rule. She doesn't care if you talk in her class... as long as your hands are the communicators. 

Stiles on the other hand doesn't know sign language and he's always been the kind of teacher who explains and debates with his Social Studies classes rather than having them simply read and answer questions like the previous teacher had. And momentum is lost in a debate if you have to write things down. It had surprised the school district how well suited Stiles was to teaching, though other teachers had complained about Stiles' students attempting to bring his methods into their classrooms. 

The thing is, Stiles' students really like him. He's the "cool" teacher. Passionate and thoughtful enough to not only draw them out of their own teenage drama but also make them really interested in what he has to teach them. They'd been worried about him when he'd gone missing and now that he's back a lot of kids had skipped school at least once during the week following his return to try and see him at the hospital. Luckily for their parent's sanity and the teenagers' own the Sheriff had posted a guard outside Stiles's door. They managed, mostly through the threat of calling the kid's parents, to get the students to leave. 

The presents and cards are still stacking up in the room though. 

The Pack comes by everyday, individually or in groups. All 23 of them wish there was something more they could do then stand nervously around the room and try to fill the silence Stiles' voice has left behind. 

Derek only leaves when the Sheriff orders him to go home and rest. His sleep is restless and does nothing at all to soothe the tiredness from his body. 

When Derek is finally allowed to take Stiles home the pack is down to 22. Mary-Anne died of a heart attack, but as she was nearing ninety it wasn't really a surprise to anyone. It does, however, shake Stiles' confidence in the safety of his pack. In turn Derek becomes even more overprotective. 

It's really only a matter of time until something tips the scales, between Derek's constant hovering and Stiles' near-constant panic there was really no way this would be resolved without tears. 

No one expected Stiles to be the one crying though. 

It was as though his injury hadn't really registered until he turned to yell at Derek and all that came out were garbled noises. For a moment he looked like he'd been slapped. Then Stiles fell gracelessly to the floor and sobbed. 

The pack shifted nervously, a few even going so far as to whine when the instinct to comfort warred with the thought of making things worse. Derek said nothing as he picked Stiles up and carried him into the communal sleeping room. The rest of the pack, glad to have the choice made for them, followed and settled in around the Alpha pair as best they could. Scott, of course, was the one curled directly around Stile's back. 

If this had been a normal post-full-moon puppy-pile anyone might have taken the place Scott now occupied but when it was a matter of Stiles' or Allison's health and safety Scott had been known to take on things far bigger and stronger than himself in their defense. Pack was pack but Allison was his Mate and Stiles was Family. No one begrudged Scott his position. 

As Derek listens to his pack settle in around him, the strongest on the outer edge, protecting the pack from perceived threat he knows that he made the right choice. Taking Stiles to their room would only have left the pack to turn on one another as anxiety ran high. It also seemed to relax Stiles in a way he hadn't managed since he'd been brought home. As though the knowledge of all those werewolves between him and the big, bad world was enough to finally let Stiles sleep. 

Derek doesn't know what he's going to do. This is so much more complicated than a spell or a monster they could kill. 

It had been easy to kill the monsters that had done this. All he'd had to do was show up at their den and demand justice. By the ancient laws his parents had drilled into Laura and himself as children the other pack was obligated to give up the perpetrators. The Alpha had tried to deny Derek but he'd been cut down by his own pack for the offense. Their new Alpha had given those who harmed Stiles over as a peace offering, promising other gifts in recompense for what had been done. He all but offered his own throat when Derek demanded to know why none of the pack had so much as sent him a note telling him where Stiles might be. 

The pack cowered before him as his own pack tore those directly responsible to shreds. A matriarch, old enough that she could have been Derek's own mother, stepped forward and quietly explained their fear for their own children, the Alpha's madness being not limited to other packs. Derek had snarled not wanting to forgive but feeling his anger give way to acceptance. He could easily destroy the pack. Make them all Omegas and take their territory as his own but he didn't want that and he knew that such a thing would only make what had happened to Stiles that much harder for Stiles to bear. 

Derek left only Boyd and Jessica behind when he returned from the hunt. They would negotiate the recompense and exact revenge if the demands were not met. 

The kill had been less satisfying than Derek had hoped, because even as he knew they would never harm another being again it was already too late to save the one that mattered.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing they do is try to learn sign language. Mostly, they fail at it because they still aren't used to having the need for it.

While the pack works on it they get Stiles two whistles. 

One is just a regular whistle and they work out a system of blasts on it for communicating until they've all learned at least a basic amount of sign language. One short blast is just to grab attention. Two short blasts is for when Stiles needs something. Three short blasts is a signal that there is something important that someone needs to be informed of _right now_. One long blast is a sign of annoyance and the duration is usually determined by how annoyed he is.

The second is a dog whistle and when Stiles sees it he gives Derek a look that's almost the bright mischievousness smile Derek remembers. 

"We're not dogs." Derek grumbles but Stiles knows he's not really upset and that just makes him laugh. 

It's a strange sound, almost like a cough but with definite mirth in it. Derek has to smile at the first real glimpse of happiness he's seen in the three months since they got Stiles back. 

The dog whistle is for emergencies. It's protection against werewolves, at least as long as Stiles can keep blowing it and even when he encounters something else it will at least let Derek and the rest of the pack know something is up. 

Because despite the fact that Derek really wants to, he can neither keep Stiles tucked away safe in the house forever nor can he or someone from the pack be with Stiles at all hours of the night and day. It's not fair to anyone and it's more than likely that Stiles would make his life a living hell if he tried. 

Stiles still tries to talk, especially when he gets really distracted. Derek has even learned the specific noise that is supposed to be his name. When he hears it, no matter what he's doing he goes to find Stiles. Usually it's just Stiles wanting to show him something or wanting a hug but sometimes is something more. 

Like the time Stiles managed to fall through the back porch while the rest of the pack was messing around in the front yard. None of them had thought anything of the sound, after all, branches and things fell in the woods around the house on a fairly regular bases. Then Derek had heard Stiles calling for him and he was through the house in less than a minute. Stiles had ended up with a broken ankle and seventeen stitches up his left calf. The Doctors warned Stiles to stay off his ankle and Derek promised to ensure bed rest.

Derek hates that Stiles doesn't kiss him anymore, even refusing to accept Derek's kisses. Derek doesn't push even though he wants to so bad it hurts. He runs a lot those first three months.


End file.
